EP0439285B1 - Modulare Regaleinheit - Google Patents

Modulare Regaleinheit Download PDF

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Publication number
EP0439285B1
EP0439285B1 EP91300379A EP91300379A EP0439285B1 EP 0439285 B1 EP0439285 B1 EP 0439285B1 EP 91300379 A EP91300379 A EP 91300379A EP 91300379 A EP91300379 A EP 91300379A EP 0439285 B1 EP0439285 B1 EP 0439285B1
Authority
EP
European Patent Office
Prior art keywords
unit
members
nth
units
cut
Prior art date
Legal status (The legal status is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the status listed.)
Expired - Lifetime
Application number
EP91300379A
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English (en)
French (fr)
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EP0439285A1 (de
Inventor
John Edmark
Current Assignee (The listed assignees may be inaccurate. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation or warranty as to the accuracy of the list.)
Individual
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Individual
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Filing date
Publication date
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Publication of EP0439285A1 publication Critical patent/EP0439285A1/de
Application granted granted Critical
Publication of EP0439285B1 publication Critical patent/EP0439285B1/de
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Expired - Lifetime legal-status Critical Current

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Classifications

    • A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
    • A47—FURNITURE; DOMESTIC ARTICLES OR APPLIANCES; COFFEE MILLS; SPICE MILLS; SUCTION CLEANERS IN GENERAL
    • A47B—TABLES; DESKS; OFFICE FURNITURE; CABINETS; DRAWERS; GENERAL DETAILS OF FURNITURE
    • A47B81/00—Cabinets or racks specially adapted for other particular purposes, e.g. for storing guns or skis
    • A47B81/06—Furniture aspects of radio, television, gramophone, or record cabinets
    • A47B81/068—Cassette cabinets or the like
    • A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
    • A47—FURNITURE; DOMESTIC ARTICLES OR APPLIANCES; COFFEE MILLS; SPICE MILLS; SUCTION CLEANERS IN GENERAL
    • A47B—TABLES; DESKS; OFFICE FURNITURE; CABINETS; DRAWERS; GENERAL DETAILS OF FURNITURE
    • A47B87/00—Sectional furniture, i.e. combinations of complete furniture units, e.g. assemblies of furniture units of the same kind such as linkable cabinets, tables, racks or shelf units
    • A47B87/02—Sectional furniture, i.e. combinations of complete furniture units, e.g. assemblies of furniture units of the same kind such as linkable cabinets, tables, racks or shelf units stackable ; stackable and linkable
    • A47B87/0207—Stackable racks, trays or shelf units
    • A47B87/0253—Shelves stackable by means of vertical parts integrated or already fixed to the shelves, the parts not being frames or made of tubes or wire
    • G—PHYSICS
    • G11—INFORMATION STORAGE
    • G11B—INFORMATION STORAGE BASED ON RELATIVE MOVEMENT BETWEEN RECORD CARRIER AND TRANSDUCER
    • G11B33/00—Constructional parts, details or accessories not provided for in the other groups of this subclass
    • G11B33/02—Cabinets; Cases; Stands; Disposition of apparatus therein or thereon
    • G11B33/04—Cabinets; Cases; Stands; Disposition of apparatus therein or thereon modified to store record carriers
    • G11B33/0405—Cabinets; Cases; Stands; Disposition of apparatus therein or thereon modified to store record carriers for storing discs
    • G11B33/0461—Disc storage racks

Definitions

  • the present invention relates to a stackable modular unit for a storage structure for flat objects, particularly, but not exclusively, for compact-disc cases.
  • Storage structures for such objects are known and have the form of racks comprising a number of compartments or shelves into which the compact-disc cases can be slid (see e.g. US-A-4 678 245).
  • a stackable modular unit for a storage structure for flat objects comprising two lateral, mutually distanced, wall members to which are attached or with which are integral at least two bottom members and at least one top member, said bottom and top members defining supporting and guiding surfaces for said object, said lateral walls having cut-outs in their lower portions, the upper edges of said walls and said cut-outs being so configured as to permit, in the stacked state of said units, the nesting of the upper portion of each lateral wall of each unit in the cut-out of the corresponding wall of the next-higher of said stacked units, wherein any one of said objects, when introduced into, and slid onto the bottom members of, the nth of said stacked units, mechanically joins said nth unit to the (nth - 1) unit.
  • Fig. 1 a modular unit according to the invention, seen to consist of two lateral wall members 2, 2' joined by a rear bottom supporting member 4 including a rail 6 which advantageously serves both for reinforcement and as an abutment for the inserted compact-disc (CD) indicated by dash-dotted lines in Figs. 2 and 3.
  • CD compact-disc
  • top supporting members 12, 12' are shown, the length L1 of which is slightly less than the distance L2 between the front edge of the rear bottom supporting member 4 and the rear edges of the front supporting members 8, 8'. Gripping ledges 14, 14' serve to facilitate lifting up of the entire stack or parts thereof.
  • the lateral members 2,2' are seen to have in their lower portions cut-outs 16,16'.
  • the upper edges of the lateral members 2,2' and the cut-outs 16,16' are so configured as to permit, in the stacked state of the units, the nesting of the upper portion of each lateral members 2,2' of each unit in the cut-out of the corresponding wall of the next-higher of the stacked units, as is clearly seen in Fig. 2:
  • Unit A is nested in unit B, unit B in unit C, and unit C in unit D.
  • Unit D being in this drawing the uppermost unit in the stack, is obviously not nested.
  • the invention also provides a simple attachment which, inserted into the cut-outs 16,16' of the lowermost unit A, provides the missing "bridging" members.
  • the attachment will be explained in conjunction with Fig. 8.
  • Fig. 1 is advantageously made by the injection-molding process from one of the industrial plastics.
  • the lateral wall members 2,2' are likely to be ribbed or coffered, rather than solid as shown for the sake of simplicity. If so, the gripping ledges 14 might be superfluous, as the recesses produced by the ribbing pattern should provide enough purchase to the fingers to lift up the stack or parts thereof.
  • Fig. 4 illustrates a second embodiment of the stackable unit according to the invention.
  • the lateral wall members 2,2' are arcuate, being defined by an upper arc 18,18' and a lower arc 20,20'. It should be noted that these arcs are not, as would appear, concentric, but have the same radius, which is obviously required for proper nesting when stacked. Here, however, because of the arcuate geometry, special provision must be made to ensure proper mutual location of the units in the front-to-back direction.
  • the cylindrical recess 26 (provided also on the other lateral wall 2') is for lifting.
  • FIG. 5 Yet another embodiment is illustrated in Fig. 5. It basically resembles that of Fig. 1, but has been made heavier and sturdier by addition of the single, handle-like top supporting member 28 that replaces the two separate members 12,12', and the single front bottom supporting member 30 which replaces the two separate members 8,8'.
  • Fig. 6 represents a variant of the previous embodiment, inasmuch as the unit shown here is provided with intermediate supporting members 32,32' and much narrower one-piece bottom supporting members 4 and 30. Upon stacking, the relatively narrow intermediate members 32 are co-planar with the bottom members 4, 30 of the next-higher unit, and the top member 28 of the next-lower unit.
  • the sheet-metal embodiment of Fig. 7 which includes all the essentials of the embodiment of Fig. 5 is made of a one-piece blank, except for the handle-like top member 28.
  • the latter has tabs 34 cut from the ends of member 28, which tabs, bent downwards, serve to rivet or spot-weld the top member 28 to the lateral wall members 2,2'.
  • rib-like reinforcing projections advantageously embossed in the lateral wall members 2,2' to enhance their mechanical strength.
  • Fig. 8 illustrates the above-mentioned attachment that supplies the missing "bridging members" of the two lowermost units in each stack and is particularly suitable for the embodiment of Figs. 1, 5 and 6, and of which two are required per stack.
  • a trapezoidal piece 36 configured to fit, and fill, the cut-outs 16,16' of the units. Attached to, or integral with, this piece are two top-supporting member "substitutes" 38,40.
  • the attachment is intended to be cemented into the cut-outs 16,16' of the lowermost unit of a stack. An abutment prevents the piece from being pushed in too far, and a spring-loaded ball detent provides friction to keep the attachment in place.
  • FIG. 9 A preferred embodiment of the modular unit according to the invention is seen in Fig. 9. While the general design resembles that of the embodiment of Fig. 5, showing apart from the lateral member 2,2' also the front and rear bottom support members 30,4, there are now seen, instead of the relatively low abutment or stop rail 6, two distinct back stops 42,42' which, for reasons explained below, are much higher than appears to be necessary in order to serve as back stop for the CD-case accommodated in their unit.
  • the backstops 42,42' solve this problem by being high enough for the tapered members 44,44' of what happens to be the uppermost unit to reach above the plane containing the CDC-carrying surfaces of what would be the bottom-support members of a next-higher unit.
  • the tapered members 44,44' of one unit are accommodated in tapered cut-outs 46,46' of the next higher unit.

Landscapes

  • Stackable Containers (AREA)
  • Packaging Of Annular Or Rod-Shaped Articles, Wearing Apparel, Cassettes, Or The Like (AREA)
  • Packaging For Recording Disks (AREA)
  • Combinations Of Kitchen Furniture (AREA)
  • Buffer Packaging (AREA)
  • Transmission Devices (AREA)
  • Structure Of Telephone Exchanges (AREA)

Claims (5)

  1. Stapelbare modulare Einheit fur eine Aufbewahrungskonstruktion für flache Gegenstände, die zwei seitliche, voneinander beabstandete Wandelemente (2,2') umfaßt, an denen wenigstens zwei Bodenelemente (4,8,8') angebracht sind oder mit denen diese integral ausgeformt sind, dadurch gekennzeichnet, daß die Einheit des weiteren wenigstens ein Oberseitenelement (12,12') umfaBt, wobei die Boden- und die Oberseitenelemente Aufnahme- und Führungsflächen für den Gegenstand bilden, die seitlichen Wände Ausschnitte in ihren unteren Bereichen aufweisen, die Oberkanten der Wande und die Ausschnitte (16,16') so geformt sind, daß sie im übereinandergestapelten Zustand der Einheiten das Einführen des oberen Abschnitts jeder seitlichen Wand jeder Einheit in den Ausschnitt der entsprechenden Wand der nächsthöheren der übereinandergestapelten Einheiten ermöglichen, wobei jeder der Gegenstände, wenn er in die n-te der übereinandergestapelten Einheiten eingefuhrt und auf ihre Bodenelemente geschoben wird, die n-te Einheit mechanisch mit der n - 1-ten Einheit verbindet.
  2. Modulare Einheit nach Anspruch 1, wobei in dem ubereinandergestapelten Zustand das Oberseitenelement oder die Oberseitenelemente (12,12') der n-ten Einheit im wesentlichen koplanar mit den Bodenelementen (4,8,8') der n + 2-ten Einheit von unten gezählt sind.
  3. Modulare Einheit nach Anspruch 1, die des weiteren wenigstens zwei Zwischenelemente (32,32') umfaßt, die an den seitlichen Wandelementen (2,2') angebracht bzw. mit ihnen integral ausgeformt sind.
  4. Modulare Einheit nach Anspruch 3, wobei im ubereinandergestapelten Zustand der Einheiten die Zwischenelemente (32,32') der n-ten Einheit im wesentlichen koplanar mit den Bodenelementen (4,30) der n + 1-ten Einheit und dem Oberseitenelement oder den Oberseitenelementen (28) der n - 1-ten Einheit sind.
  5. Modulare Einheit nach Anspruch 1, die des weiteren eine hintere Anschlageinrichtung (42,42') umfaßt, wobei ein oberes Element derselben über die Ebene hinausreicht, die die Gegenstände tragenden Flächen der Bodenelemente der nachsthöheren Einheit in einem Stapel ubereinandergestapelter Einheiten einschließt.
EP91300379A 1990-01-23 1991-01-17 Modulare Regaleinheit Expired - Lifetime EP0439285B1 (de)

Applications Claiming Priority (2)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
IL93138A IL93138A0 (en) 1990-01-23 1990-01-23 Modular rack unit
IL93138 1990-01-23

Publications (2)

Publication Number Publication Date
EP0439285A1 EP0439285A1 (de) 1991-07-31
EP0439285B1 true EP0439285B1 (de) 1994-05-18

Family

ID=11060832

Family Applications (1)

Application Number Title Priority Date Filing Date
EP91300379A Expired - Lifetime EP0439285B1 (de) 1990-01-23 1991-01-17 Modulare Regaleinheit

Country Status (6)

Country Link
US (1) USRE34217E (de)
EP (1) EP0439285B1 (de)
JP (1) JPH04339761A (de)
AT (1) ATE105682T1 (de)
DE (1) DE69101978D1 (de)
IL (1) IL93138A0 (de)

Families Citing this family (4)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
EP0755558A1 (de) * 1994-04-15 1997-01-29 Fritz R. Plankenbichler Jr. Stapelhalterung für flache gegenstände
JP3031653U (ja) * 1996-05-25 1996-11-29 有限会社ウイット 複数組み合わせによって増やせるコンパクトデイスク収納具
US6994222B2 (en) * 2002-04-06 2006-02-07 Spectrum Concepts, Inc. Storage device and method of using and making same
US20080295121A1 (en) * 2007-05-25 2008-11-27 David Walter Muhonen Compressible media disk storage trays

Family Cites Families (7)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US3481656A (en) * 1967-11-09 1969-12-02 David B Landers Storage tray for flat articles
US4375848A (en) * 1980-12-09 1983-03-08 The Wickes Corporation Stacked panel package and methods for making same
US4678245A (en) * 1985-05-22 1987-07-07 Fouassier Jean Pierre Modular device for storing compact discs or the like
AU7853187A (en) * 1986-08-14 1988-03-08 Kappus Co., The An agitator for a food mixer
US4821885A (en) * 1986-12-01 1989-04-18 Ondrasik V John Stackable and nestable basket device
DE8710338U1 (de) * 1987-07-28 1987-10-22 Kurz Kunststoffe Gmbh, 7452 Haigerloch, De
DE8806559U1 (de) * 1988-05-19 1988-09-15 "Sunnyline" Computer Products Gmbh, 4800 Bielefeld, De

Also Published As

Publication number Publication date
USRE34217E (en) 1993-04-13
JPH04339761A (ja) 1992-11-26
EP0439285A1 (de) 1991-07-31
IL93138A0 (en) 1990-11-05
DE69101978D1 (de) 1994-06-23
ATE105682T1 (de) 1994-06-15

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